WHIDBEY ISLAND STATION, Wash. — The remains of the two aviators killed in a growler crash near Mount Rainier last month are returning home to Washington from Dover Air Force Base this week.
Lieutenant Commander Lyndsay Payge Evans, 31, a naval flight officer, and Lieutenant Serena Nicole Wileman, 31, a naval aviator, were killed in the crash. Both were from California. According to Naval Air Station Whidbey Island officials, the flight took off from Oak Harbor on Oct. 15 and the crash was reported at 3:23 p.m.
Wileman arrived in Oak Harbor around 7 p.m. Monday. The community was invited to show its support as the motorcade drove by.
"Our city wraps our arms around our local military community," said Oak Harbor Mayor Ronnie Wright, who is also a Navy veteran.
A hearst carrying the remains of Lt. Wileman made it to Wallin-Stucky Funeral Home at 6:30 p.m.
Despite cold, gusty weather conditions, a crowd of civilians and several service members gathered to pay their respects, including families with children.
"You train as you fight," said Chuck Holton, an Air Force veteran who attended the procession with his nonprofit group called Patriot Guard Riders.
As Holton knows, practice missions are still quite dangerous, and the service members often risk their lives when they train.
"They were training like they would have to fight," said Holton. "And there are casualties when you train like that.”
The idea that freedom isn't free is one that you don’t have to explain to the Military-engrained community on Whidbey Island.
In our conversation with Mayor Wright, KING 5 asked, "What would you want Lt. Wileman to know?"
Mayor Wright responded, "Thank you for your sacrifice and for your service, and we will honor you every single day.”
Evans will be returning home to Anacortes later this week. Her arrival will be private.
Evans and Wileman were assigned to the Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 130. They died when their electronic warfare aircraft crashed in remote terrain on Oct. 15.
Evans was commissioned in 2014 and has been stationed on Whidbey Island since 2016. Evans was most recently assigned to the electronic attack squadron in September 2023. She has also served for several years in the electronic communications weapons school and the Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 136 at NAS Whidbey.
Wileman was commissioned in 2018 and has been stationed at Whidbey Island since 2021. Wileman was assigned to the electronic attack squadron in 2022. She was previously in a student role at several bases across the country. She is survived by her husband, and according to reports, he is also a Navy aviator, and the two met in flight school.
The crash site involving a U.S. Navy EA-18G Growler, an electronic warfare aircraft, was on a mountainside east of Mount Rainier.